


shapes that go together

by prettybrilliantfunny



Category: Marvel (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-10
Updated: 2012-05-10
Packaged: 2017-11-05 02:42:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/401567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettybrilliantfunny/pseuds/prettybrilliantfunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SHIELD tries to slowly acclimate a newly defrosted Steve to the modern world; Tony’s opinion is “go big or go home.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	shapes that go together

No one is quite prepared for Captain America to turn up seventy years after his plane went down, so no one really knows how to handle his sudden reappearance.

SHIELD keeps trying to slowly ease him into the world so he doesn’t get culture shock and go “crazy axe-murdery” (Clint’s words, not his), but Tony’s of the opinion that slowly shuffling through movies from the 40s and 50s is the worst possible approach.  Steve’s only been out of the ice for a few weeks, but he trusted Howard Stark with his life and maybe Tony is right.  So while Fury is overseeing a raid near the Canadian border, Tony kidnaps Steve from HQ and takes him to Avatar in 3D at the IMAX.

He thinks Steve might actually cry.  

They leave the theatre and Steve’s dumbfounded shock only lasts the length of the movie because while they’re walking he’s exclaiming that the seed pods looked like they were gonna land on him and how crazy the jungle chase scene was, and Tony ends up leading a 6’6” kid through New York City.  They spend the whole walk back along the pier with Steve animatedly retelling the entire movie, complete with sound effects and explosive hand gestures.

And then he does something completely unexpected and asks Tony how.  

So he tells him.  It’s nowhere near as complex a feat as half the mechanisms on the Iron Man suit, though that’s still probably way over Steve’s head, but he never asks him to go back or slow down or explain what an unpolarized incident beam is.  He just stares at him with rapt concentration and Tony imagines he’s like a sponge, just soaking it all in.  It’s actually nice to talk to such a captive audience, to really talk without having to make ridiculous analogies or, reversely, get pulled into yet another discussion on space-time continuities (vis-a-vis Reed Richards).

They wander for another hour talking (mostly Tony talks and Steve listens), and Steve pulls plans out of him for another crash-course exposure in modern cinema (Tony thinks Inception, maybe) before Tony drops him back off at the Helicarrier.  

Fury nearly shits a brick when he finds out.

But it works.  Shield can’t argue with results.

So Steve goes to Tony with all his technological questions.  When he has them.  Mostly, he just picks things up when Tony starts ranting - because he’s the only one who isn’t tiptoeing around Steve like his head will explode if they show him the Internet (and, well, it did. But only for half an hour, and then Fury found out and put his Stark-issue tablet on lock-down).  It’s just not something Tony thinks about - the hey Steve’s been frozen in time for 70 years maybe I should take it slow thing.  It’s just not in his nature. and Steve’s eternally grateful for it.

The other Avengers catch on quick enough; explain things when SHIELD refuses to.  But then Clint shows Steve how to use the microwave, and Steve resolutely refuses to go anywhere near the thing for two weeks.

Later, he lets Tony test some Zero-G equipment on him, no problem, and doesn’t stop grinning for hours after.  Not that Clint’s bitter or anything.

It’s Pepper who intercepts Steve on his way down to the workshop (JARVIS has been pinging him at Tony’s insistance for the last ten minutes) and Steve finally explains that, yeah, he’s been frozen for a long time, and things are strange and disorienting sometimes. But Tony? Tony doesn’t get disoriented.  He’s never confused.  He’s always 100% certain and he speaks with such confidence and intelligence that Steve can’t help but be reassured..   He might not understand half the words Tony uses, but if Tony’s certain, then so is Steve.  

So when Tony has Steve help him fix the microwave (after Thor “accidentally” puts his fist through it), Steve’s perfectly fine.  Tony tells him the names of all the parts and why this time he’s going to reinforce the glass, maybe add a warming button specifically for ‘poptarts’ to avoid any future tantrums, and how it’s waves but also heat, and no it’s not lasers and Clint’s a moron because the thing is harmless.

Steve insists on microwave popcorn every night for a week, and Tony sets up a movie screen in the workshop, convertible seats and all.

**   
**


End file.
